Local racing chatter: Tom Swindell

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Aug 29, 2010 at 12:01 AMAug 15, 2012 at 3:20 PM

Swindell, 31, has been a NASCAR employee for seven years in the racing operations department. The former standout athlete at New Smyrna Beach High School describes racing operations as the administrative end of the competition department. He has a long list of duties, including a hectic travel schedule.

What exactly do you do?

"We do things like sponsorship and paint-scheme approvals. Just by the rulebook, there are certain areas you can have decals and certain areas you can't. From a competition standpoint, we make sure the car or truck numbers are highly visible or visible from the tower so our officials can see them.

On the sponsor side of it, we make sure there are no conflicts. We keep track of teams getting paid based on the owner plans. Our department issues car and truck numbers on an annual basis. It's just a lot of the administrative side of the competition department."

So in racing operations, you don't inspect cars or hand out fines or things like that?

"Competition does the hardcore, racing elements. We work more with car owners and team managers and business people to make sure they have all their required documents in order. We work with new owners and explain how the processes work. We make sure they get in touch with the right people on the competition side, such as John Darby in Sprint Cup or Joe Balash in the Nationwide Series."

Are you in constant communication with the NASCAR R&D Center in Concord, N.C.?

"Yes, constantly. We are always going back and forth with those folks. I travel primarily with the Truck and Nationwide Series."

If a team wants to change a paint scheme on its truck, do you have final say on that decision?

"There's a group of us. When we receive a scheme, I send it out to a small group to get input, then we reply back to the team and let them know if it's OK, or if there needs to be any modifications."

Do you inspect cars at the racetrack to make sure they are NASCAR-certified as far as appearance?

"Yes. We'll go around, look at the cars, look at the paint schemes, make sure everything is in order. Obviously, there are things that come up at the last minute. Teams will bring decals to the hauler and say, 'Hey, we got a last minute deal. Is this OK?' And we tell them if it is or isn't OK."

How much traveling do you do in a season?

"Right now it's about 20 events a year. I go to more Truck and Nationwide Series events."

Where did you grow up, and how did you get interested in racing?

"I grew up in Edgewater, so I knew of the Daytona 500 and Coke Zero 400, but I wasn't a big race fan, per se. I was a big sports fan. I went to college at the University of Jacksonville, and my roommate's family was really into racing. They had an extra ticket one year and invited me, and it was a great atmosphere. The tailgating and all that, then we went to the race, and I was floored by the number of people, the sights and sounds.

I instantly became a NASCAR fan after my first race. A year or so later, I had a class and the professor wanted us to do a marketing project, so I picked NASCAR. I was in constant touch with people here and when I graduated, there was a position that became available and I was lucky to get it. About a week after I graduated from college, I started at NASCAR."

Is there a lot of hassle with your job, or are the people you oversee mostly cooperative?

"There's no hassle. It is interesting. There's always something different, whether there's a sponsor that comes up or something else comes up. It's challenging, but it's a lot of fun. The people are what make it fun. There are a lot of good people in racing."

What does your family think about the amount of travel required by your job?

"They are fine with it."

Can you imagine yourself working anywhere else but NASCAR?

"I grew up and still live in Edgewater, and I could not imagine working anywhere else. This is a really good company to work for. It's exciting. I mean, this is professional motorsports. I can't imagine doing anything else."

-- Godwin Kelly

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